Speaking at the 12th Information Society Technologies International Congress (TIBO 2005) the Belarusian Minister of Communications and Informatisation, Vladimir Goncharenko, and Beltelecom general director Nikolai Krukovski have given a presentation on the state of he country’s telecoms markets. According to E-Belarus.com, the pair confirmed that liberalisation of the wireline markets would start in 2007, with draft legislations expected to be submitted to Parliament later this year.
As of 1 April 2005 there were 2.8 million mobile subscribers in the country, an increase of 130% in 15 months. MTS is the largest operator with 1.39 million customers and a network of 779 base stations covering 49% of the country’s territory and 82% of population. Velcom comes a close second with 1.28 million subscribers, with a network coverage of 83%. Belcel, meanwhile has coverage of just 56% of the population and 89,798 customers.